"If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?" (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Aleksandr_Solzhenitsyn)

>The secret of Hell, I think, is that you get there before death. By doing evil things, you invite an evil mentality into your mind which will prey on you as you become more feeble.

That's the Christian orthodox view btw -- that you make your own hell by your stance and action (in which view, hell is not an actual place, even in another dimension, with fire pits and demons, but just your resentment and the distance you feel from God's love).

". . . those who find themselves in hell will be chastised by the scourge of love. How cruel and bitter this torment of love will be! For those who understand that they have sinned against love, undergo no greater suffering than those produced by the most fearful tortures. The sorrow which takes hold of the heart, which has sinned against love, is more piercing than any other pain. It is not right to say that the sinners in hell are deprived of the love of God . . . But love acts in two ways, as suffering of the reproved, and as joy in the blessed!" (Saint Isaac of Syria).

This view is certainly well within Christian orthodoxy, but to call it the orothodox view is, I think, a bit of a stretch.

I mean the view of the orthodox church (a specific denomination, and the oldest now) -- not the "orthodox view" as in THE most official.

This is an excellent, truthful appeal to secularists. One should note further that demons literally exist and are actively roaming the Earth, putting us in warfare for our souls we are growing increasingly ill-equipped to handle.

Learn more: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditionalist_Catholicism

I don't see the connection. Are you saying that the demons are people? I can barely understand that Wikipedia article.

Ancient Christianity believed in invisible powers that influence human beings to have evil thoughts, desires, passions. So, it's not just bad human habits, there can be external influences as well. This is part of the Nicene creed: "I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth, and of all things visible and invisible." Demons are generally believed to be powerful enough to influence humans against their will. This is why Christians pray "Lord, have mercy" or "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me" throughout the day, so that God helps them in the "spiritual warfare" for their souls.

There's the rub.

Not the exact words I'd use but I've come to a very similar conclusion :)

Did you come up with this personally and/or is there someplace I can get more? Damn

A famous Zen story says a very similar thing:

There was once a general who asked the Zen master Hakuin:"Are there really such things as Heaven and Hell?"

"What do you do for a living?" Hakuin asked him.

"I'm a general."

"Ha, ha, ha! What idiot asked you to be his general? You look more like a butcher to me", the Zen master teased the general.

"I'll cut you to pieces!" the general angrily pulled his sword.

"Here lie the gates of Hell!" said the master.

"Excuse me...Please forgive my insolence.”

And Hakuin said:"Here lie the gates of Heaven."

Heaven and Hell aren't places that suddenly appear after death. They exist here and now. Good and evil involve just a single instant of thought, and the gates of Heaven and Hell are ready to open for you at any time. (From Zen Stories: The Staff and Shout of the Venerable Ones)

    Pride ruined the angels,
    Their shame them restores;
    Lurks the joy that is sweetest
    In stings of remorse.

-- from Ralph Waldo Emerson's "The Sphinx"

I heard a podcast this weekend which explains the distinction between hell and the condition of being dead ("in Hades"). "The Descent of Jesus into Hades" by Eastern Orthodox Christian Fr. Thomas Hopko (32:25, transcript available)

https://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/hopko/the_descent_of_j...

Here's a quote:

> So we determine whether we are in hell or not by our own belief or unbelief, by our love of love, and our love of light, and our love of truth, and our love of glory, or by our hatred of it. That has nothing to do with Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who died for us. When He descended into Sheol and Hades, it means simply that He died, and through death, trampled down death and raised the dead, all the dead, there is no one left in the tomb, as it says. In St. John Chrysostom’s sermon on Paschal night, he said, “No one is left in the tomb. Christ is risen and life reigns.” But if you hate that life, it is hell. If you love it, it is Paradise.

Nice.

Posted something similar from early christian theology in the same thread.

C. S. Lewis writes along similar lines in The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters, two very different books, but both of which of I'd credit as changing my life. The common theme in both is that to be damned is not to sin greatly, but to become comfortable with the abandonment of good.

Seconded, I think I've learned something new about life. I knew a similar idea which I'd call instant karma that is basically this but I wouldn't be able to word it so eloquently.

That's deep.